100 protest reclamation work for $1bn project

Manama, February 7, 2010

More than 100 people protested against reclamation work on a $1 billion (BD378 million) development project in Karranah off Bahrain's northern coastline.

Northern Municipal Council blocked the Al Nurana residential and commercial project on Monday after councillors said the developer's reclamation licence was given without their permission.

Councillors are refusing to give a permit to Al Manara Development Company, despite reclamation work having already started.

Another multi-million project, Marsa Al Seef, adjacent to Al Nurana, was also rejected.

Northern Municipal Council member Abdulghani Khalil was among those attending the protest, organised by the Karranah Residents Committee.

'I spoke at the event about the situation in the area and the services it lacks including housing amongst others,' he said.

'These two particular projects were not passed to the municipal council and at the recent council meeting we refused both.'

Khalil said that the committee would continue to hold demonstrations against the project.

Rejected

The protest was attended by residents, MPs, councillors and environmentalists.

Councillors ordered Al Manara to stop reclamation in December, but then discovered last month that a licence had been given in September without their consent, by Northern Municipality - allegedly after intervention by VIPs.

But councillors maintained that even with the reclamation licence, developers could not start work without their approval, since they hold the zoning authority.

Karranah residents earlier condemned the Municipalities and Agriculture Ministry for backing the investors.

They said the fact that the council had been bypassed meant the elected body had been undermined.-TradeArabia News Service